McCardel to attempt record swim

SYDNEY – An Australian open-water distance swimmer who has made multiple crossings of the English Channel on Sunday announced an ambitious bid to swim solo from Cuba to the United States without a shark cage.

Chloe McCardel, 27, has twice won the Channel Swimming Association’s Sotiraki Cup for the fastest swim by a woman across the strait between England and France — in 2011 and 2012 — and has also won the grueling Manhattan Island Marathon.

But McCardel has set an even loftier goal for 2013, unveiling plans to swim a daunting 170 km solo and non-stop from Havana in Cuba to Florida’s Key West in some 60-70 hours.

“It is a great time of year to make this announcement, when so many people are celebrating the New Year and thinking about their own dreams and aspirations for the next 12 months,” said McCardel, who conceded her mother would probably “faint” after hearing her plans.